Any task requiring a lot of bending, such as yard or field work, is very tiring and even potentially damaging to the muscles and joints of the back. A good way to reduce this stress is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,989, issued to Deamer et al. The Deamer patent teaches a light weight frame, hinged and sprung at the waist, so as to be compressed between the chest area of the upper torso and the front thigh area of the legs, just above the knees, when the user bends over. As the user again stands up, the springs of the frame, braced against the thighs, expand the frame so as to push upward on the chest and greatly lessen the forces that the back muscles need generate. The device stores energy upon compression and returns it to the system upon body erection. This energy is roughly equivalent to the energy required by the back muscles to perform the same function and is hence replaced by the device. Advantages of this frame design include a hinge axis aligned with the natural pivot axis of the body to better move with the body, and torsionally adjustable springs to better match the force requirements of different bodies. The complete teachings of the Deamer U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,989 are incorporated herein by reference, since they are fully relevant to the improvements herein described.